


Changing Bodies, Changing Lives

by StrangerWriter



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Growing Up, Hopper being a dad, Mileven, mentions of Lumax
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-04
Updated: 2019-03-04
Packaged: 2019-11-08 23:44:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17990789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrangerWriter/pseuds/StrangerWriter
Summary: Friday night is usually game night at the cabin. This time, it gets a little derailed when Mike and El end up having the sex talk with each other instead.





	Changing Bodies, Changing Lives

Fridays were usually game nights for Mike and El. They would both bring different kinds of candy and make a big pile of it on her bed. The winner of each game would get to choose a piece or two depending on the difficulty of what they were playing. However, most game nights just ended with the both of them eating all the leftover candy until they were borderline sick.

El and Mike were only allowed in her bedroom as long as they kept the door completely open. El thought that particular rule was totally stupid since she was allowed to close the door with her other friends. But once she voiced that to Hopper, he created a new rule: no closing doors at all when any friends were over, mumbling something about not wanting her to sneakily use her powers. She only did that one time when Dustin wouldn’t stop asking for her to make him float like she did once to Mike. Hopper came in just as Dustin crashed to the ground. He just turned around and left without even asking about what was going on.

El mostly tried to obey Hopper’s rules, even though she sometimes thought they were stupid. She knew it was easier to get what she wanted when she was compliant. Will was always complaining about Joyce being an overprotective parent, but El thought Hopper would actually win that award. While he thought he did an okay job at pretending to give her independence and space, El knew that he was really in control of what she was allowed to do. He cared about her and wanted to keep her safe, so as she matured, she grew to understand the rules to a certain extent.

Mike and El had just finished a game of Liar’s Dice when Mike leaned back on El’s pillows and felt something underneath.

“El, there’s something under your pillow,” he said, reaching for it before he had a chance to actually think about why something might be hidden under her pillow.

He pulled out a book called _Changing Bodies, Changing Lives._ El’s eyes widened, and she looked at Mike with an embarrassed smile. “Oh,” Mike blushed when he recognized the puberty book. He quickly shoved it back under her pillow.

El shrugged. “It’s okay,” she said quietly, looking down at the game in front of them. “Joyce got it for me when I had some questions,” she explained.

“Yeah…my mom gave me the same book like 2 years ago,” Mike revealed with a laugh.

“She did?” El asked. Mike nodded, and she felt a lot better knowing she wasn’t the only one who needed a book to explain those kinds of things to her. It seemed like all their friends already knew everything, and she was the only one behind, like always.

“Did you read it?” El questioned quietly.

His eyes met hers briefly before looking away. “I guess some of it,” he said, though he had pretty much read every chapter, even the ones meant for girls. _So he could be prepared someday_ , he told himself. And man, girl’s bodies were way more complicated, so he was glad that he did.

El was quiet for a second. “Can I ask you something?” Her voice was low, a near whisper.

Mike cautiously nodded, and El grabbed the book back out from under the pillow. She shifted her body so that the book was blocked in front of her, just in case Hopper were to show up unannounced. She turned to a page that she had slightly dogeared, titled ‘Choosing to Have Sexual Intercourse.’

“Did you read this part?”

Mike glanced down at it and then back to El. “Uh, yeah. I think so,” he replied, though he knew that he did.

“Well, just-“ El began. It wasn’t often that she couldn’t find her words around Mike. She was rarely embarrassed, and though the book gave her the confidence to speak about it, she still felt a little shy. “Do you think we will do it someday?” Her sentence rushed out almost as one word.

It would be a complete lie if Mike said he hadn’t at least thought about it before. However, talking about it out loud when Hopper was within earshot was another story.

“Uh, sure, I mean, only if you wanted to,” Mike told her whispering.

“I do,” she answered immediately. “In a few years.”

Mike breathed a sigh of relief at the few years part. “Yeah, yeah of course.”

El touched Mike’s hand, and he looked at her. Both of their cheeks were rosy pink, but El smiled and he relaxed a little, smiling back.

“It’s just, I know the book said that sometimes it hurts for girls,” El began.

“I would never hurt you,” Mike promised immediately.

“I know,” El smiled, squeezing his hand.

Mike had read that part of the book too. While keeping in mind that everyone’s first time was usually not that good, he knew that he was at least going to make sure that El was never in pain. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he hurt her.

“But, I um-” El started again; this part was more embarrassing for her. “I accidentally found a porn movie and-”

“Did you watch it?” Mike interrupted incredulously. When he realized he had spoken maybe just a little too loud, he glanced to El’s doorway.

El looked back too, and they waited to be sure that Hopper was not going to show up. When El thought it was safe to continue, she began. “I didn’t know what it was. I thought it was a regular movie. I only watched a few minutes of it and then I turned it off. I don’t think I want to do anything like that.”

She shuddered thinking about it. Even though the woman in the movie sounded like she was enjoying it, El did not think that what the guy was doing to her looked like something she would ever want to do with anyone, even Mike.

“I don’t think it’s actually like that you know? They are kind of…like actors in a movie,” he decided.

“That’s what Joyce said too,” El agreed, nodding.

Mike’s eyes almost popped out of his head.

“You told Mrs. Byers that you watched it?!” he exclaimed, as loud as he could whisper.

El laughed at his reaction. “I just had questions and didn’t know who to ask. Joyce told me I could always talk to her about anything so…”

Mike was mortified for her. “I cannot believe you found Hopper’s porn stash,” he mumbled.

“There was just one movie. And I don’t even know if it was his. I found it down with all the boxes.” El shrugged, not nearly as traumatized as Mike was over it. “Anyway, that’s how I got this book. But I’m kind of glad I did. I learned _a lot,_ ” she emphasized. “Do you know anyone who has done it?” she added after a moment.

Mike shook his head no before thinking about it. “I mean, I guess Nancy. Steve used to sneak into her bedroom at night, but like, we do **not** talk about that with each other so…” Mike trailed off.

“He did?” El asked, not believing Nancy would let a boy sneak into her room. “I bet she’s doing it with Jonathan now.” El giggled thinking about it.

“Yeah, I guess.” Mike made a face.

El had looked up to Nancy like an older sister and wished she could be like her someday- smart, mature, and so pretty.

“How old do you think we will be?”

“I don’t know. Like in a few years when we are both ready, so maybe like 17?” Mike answered, hoping El would lead this part of the conversation. He truly didn’t care how old they were; he just wanted her to be happy.

El nodded in agreement and shoved the book back under her pillow. She leaned back against the headboard and Mike sat back next to her. She laid her head on his shoulder. “Nancy is 17 right?”

“Yeah,” Mike answered. He didn’t tell El that Nancy was only 16 when she started seeing Steve, not wanting her to feel pressured into doing anything by a certain age.

El wrapped her fingers through his and rested their hands on her thigh.

“I bet Max and Lucas do it first,” admitted El with a giggle.

“Why? Does Max tell you things?” Mike asked curiously. Lucas never really talked about that part of their relationship, always using the excuse that he was a “gentleman.”

El shrugged. “I guess so. I know her and Lucas kiss a lot. Like even more than us,” she added with a smile. Lucas and Max were lucky; they didn’t have parents constantly hovering over them like her and Mike did.

In the next moment, El turned and brought her lips up to his. Mike kissed her back, expecting it to be a quick one as Hopper was right in the other room. Then he felt El’s tongue slip past his lips and his heart started racing. That was new.

“They kiss like _that_ all the time,” El whispered when she pulled back. She lifted her eyebrows suggestively with a half-smile pressed on her lips.

“Oh, uh, yeah, that’s…yeah. I liked that.” Mike stumbled over his words, making El laugh. She thought it was so cute when he got like that.

She laid her head back down on his shoulder and thought about what she was about to say for a minute. She felt bad telling Max’s secrets, but Max had never specifically asked her not to. And besides, it was just Mike.

“Max said Lucas put his hand up her shirt once,” she disclosed softly.

 _So much for being a gentleman_ , Mike laughed to himself.

“But you don’t have to do that,” El added after a moment of thought.

Mike was still thinking about how to respond when El quickly changed the subject.

“Do you want to play Mastermind next?”

He had always liked that about her. She could easily go from talking about something so crazy or serious, to a completely different topic without it being weird.

“Yeah, sure,” Mike agreed, though neither one of them immediately moved to get the game out.

Out in the other room, Hopper realized that El’s bedroom was suddenly too quiet. No giggling or excited exclamations like he would usually hear during game night. It was suspicious to say the least.

He made his way to her room and leaned up against her doorway.

“SO, you two having a good time _playing games_?” he emphasized loudly, narrowing his eyes at the two kids cuddled up in her bed.

“Uh-huh,” El smiled innocently. “We are just getting ready to play Mastermind.”

She had become very skilled at knowing Hopper’s every move by listening to the creaking of the cabin’s old flooring. But somehow, he managed to be nearly silent when he went into his ‘sneaking up on the kids detective mode.’

He had clearly surprised the two of them, and they both tried their best to not look guilty. El sat up and started putting away the Liar’s Dice game.

 _What an appropriate game title for these two little liars,_ Hopper mused to himself.

“I see,” he replied, not taking his eyes off Wheeler. Mike was by far the worse liar of the two, his face always gave away when they were caught doing something inappropriate. “You have 30 more minutes,” he warned after letting the boy feel uncomfortable for a few moments.

“Got it,” El answered as nonchalantly as possible. When she was sure Hopper was gone, she whispered with a groan, “I bet he wants us to wait ‘til we are 30!”

“Or longer,” Mike agreed with a nervous laugh, pulling the Mastermind game board out of its box.


End file.
